User blog comment:Llamao/A Disappearing Act/@comment-3135907-20120218161001/@comment-2246928-20180527034150

A rat named Muriz squinted at the group in the distance from his post at the great black doors of Castle Marl. The older rat rapped upon one of the two doors in a specific sequence, and then slipped inside as they opened, leaving the rat stationed at the other door to watch the group.

Guard Commander Gurrlek was the water rat who'd been chosen to watch over Castle Marl while the Marlfoxes were away, along with the intelligent female known as Chief Advisor Mirsal. The two of them sat about a table in the officers' barracks, surrounded by bored looking guards, Gurrlek drinking slowly from a jug of wine as he read through some papers, while Mirsal quietly inspected a jeweled broach in her paws. The two of them looked up as Muriz entered and bowed. "My Commander, my Advisor. It seems one of the Malfoxes has returned."

Mirsal stood up. Her voice was cold and tense. "Which one?"

"Not Sahaz, nor Voltan."

The two rat leaders looked at each other. "Varyan?" Mirsal finally said, sounding confused. Gurrlek nodded as he stood up, pulling on his cloak. "Know any other Marlfoxes 'round 'ere? Gurd, Harlik, rouse the Royal Guards. Let's give Lady Varyan a welcome worthy of a Marlfox."

By the time Varyan and her twoscore vermin army arrived at the castle, twoscore water rats decked in stunning ceremonial helmet, shield, spear and breastplate stood before the castle awaiting her. A slave on either side of them, one an otter and the other a hedgehog, bore tall poles bearing the flag of Castle Marl, fluttering in the breeze. The guards parted  as two water rats, one a male in the Guard Commander's cloak and plate and the other a female in the longer, fancier cloak of embroidered blue, strode through. "Lady Varyan?" The female said, her eyes shining. "I am Mirsal. I was selected to serve as Lord Sahaz's chief advisor." "And I Guard Commander Gurrlek." The male said, giving the Marlfox and the vermin behind her a confident look-over. "We assume he is dead?" Mirsal continued.